Political mover and shaker St. Johns County Commissioner Tom Manuel is crushed by suspension from office after indictment by a federal grand jury.
Manuel was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville on two counts of bribery totaling $60,000. The indictment, unsealed on Thursday, ends months of speculation after Sheriff David Shoar confirmed media reports that Manuel was under investigation. Manuel denied it at the time.
Manuel, the commission's chairman, moved quickly to take leave Friday morning under the federal Family Medical Leave policy for the sake of his family, his health and the good of the county. Manuel's medical problems are well documented making him eligible for benefits. He did the right thing removing himself immediately from county decision-making. By late afternoon, Gov. Charlie Crist suspended Manuel from office until a further executive order or as otherwise provided by law. He further suspended all of Manuel's benefits of the office.
The two actions give the county the ability to operate separately from Manuel's problems. They give Manuel time to attempt to prove his innocence.
The suspension comes at a critical juncture for the County Commission. Now, it will have three new commissioners out of five after reorganization Nov. 18.
We urge Crist to move by next week on a temporary replacement for Manuel, someone with no political agenda of their own but with knowledge of the county and its issues. This new person should be seated by the Oct. 28 regular meeting. That will give the county at least three weeks to acclimate the new commissioner before two more new members are seated during reorganization.
In the meantime, Manuel's suspension creates some holes on regional and local boards on which he served such as the county's Tourist Development Council where he was chairman. There should be no break in the county's representation on any of those boards.
Vice chair Cyndi Stevenson took over as chair immediately on Friday. Manuel's term as chairman was to end in November. We wish her well in this difficult time. We urge her to fill those critical board roles herself or by appointing other commissioners as soon as possible.
We believe that county government is in good hands under the steady leadership of County Administrator Michael Wanchick and the remaining four county commissioners.
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1 comment:
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THE FBI IS GOING TO ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE THE CORRUPTION IN SAINT JOHNS COUNTY DCF, FAMILY INTEGRITY PROGRAM, THE DEPENDENCY COURT SYTEM; THE TRASHY NASTY GROUP HOMES; CONTRACTED SERVICE PROVIDERS; UNLICENSED MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS AND COUNCELORS; AND THE ROTATING LIST OF ATTORNEYS WHO ENGAGE IN THE BABY BROKERING OF CHILDREN THAT ARE ABDUCTED FROM SCHOOL CLASSES; BARTERED OUT AND SOLD OFF BY THE GAL PROGRAM TO FUND HOUSE PAYMENTS FOR THE RICH & WEALTHY; MOSTLY THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! tHERE IS NOTHING BUT FRAUD WASTE AND ABUSE OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS FOR COUNTY REVENUES GOING ON AROUND HERE!! tHE CHILDREN ARE MENTALLY ABUSED BY FOSTER PARENTS AND OTHER CHILDREN IN FOSTER HOMES AND THE FOSTER PARENTS!!! tHE COUNCELORS AND SOCIAL WORKERS AND DCF ATTORNEYS COME TO COURT AND LIE THEIR ASSES OFF; THE JUDGE ALLOWS IT; AND THE MONEY PASSES RIGHT THROUGH THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OFFICE. GO LOOK!!! BABY-SNATCHERS, ROUGES, THEIVES, KIDNAPPERS WHO WOULD SELL JESUS CHRIST FOR A DIME. THE FBI HAS SOME MORE INVESTIGATING AND GRAND JURY INDITEMENTS THEY SHOULD BE LOOKING AT; BARACK OBAMA SHOULD COME ON DOWN HERE AND INVESTIGATE CASE NUMBER DPO6-03 PERSONALLY AND GIVE US A CALL!!! tHIS IS FRAUD WASTE AND ABUSE COUNTY 101. SEE AMERICAN FAMILY RIGHTS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE. MEMBER!!!!
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